ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 19 January 1922, Page 43

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. At Burnside last week 186 head of fat cattle were, yarded, the quality being up to the usual standard. Competition was better than at the previous sale, and in some cases there was an advance of from 10s to 15s per head. Prime bullocks realised from £lO to £l2 10s, medium from £8 to £9 10s, and lighter from £6. Prime heavy cows and heifers realised from £7 to £9 10s, medium from £5 to £7, and lighter from £3 15s. Fat Sheep.l33B were penned. A small yarding, but sufficient for the week’s requirements. The sale opened with prices at an advance of 4s to ss, but about the middle of the sale they dropped until the market closed at very little over the preceding week’s prices. Extra prime heavy-weight wethers at the commencement of the sale made up to 245, prime 18s to 20s, medium 14s to 16s, lighter 'from 11s. Extra prime heavy ewes to 17s, medium 10s to 14s, lighter from 7s. Fat Lambs.2s6 were penned. A small yarding, and prices advanced fully 5s per head. Extra prime lambs made up to 245, medium 19s to 225, others 14s to 15s. Pigs.—A medium yarding, all classes being represented. The sale lacked animation, and prices were considerably easier. There were slightly smaller wardings of beef and fa-t lambs at Addington market last week, but other classes were up to recent averages. There was a firm sale for fat lambs, whilst store and fat sheep showed a slight improvement. Fat Lambs. Exporters operated freely on a basis of up'to si-d per lb, and secured most of the entry. There was a complete clearance. Estra prime lambs 19s to 20s 6d, prime 16s 9d to 19s, medium 14s 3d to 16s 6cl, inferior 11s 3d to 14s. Fat Sheep. There was a slightly increased yarding, and the sale was a shade better. Exporters bid freely for ewe and light wether mutton. Extra prime wethers 20s to 22s 6d, prime 16s 6d to 19s 6d, medium 14s 3d to 16s 3d, light and unfinished 12s to 14s, prime ewes 13s to 15s 3d, medium 11s 3d to 12s 9d, light and inferior 6s 6d to 11s. Fat Cattle. Extra good beef was a shade firmer, but all good to medium beef was unaltered. Extra prime to 29s per 1001 b, prime to medium to 255, rough beef 20s and under, extra prime steers £l2 15s to £l4s, prime £9 5s to £l2 10s, medium £6 to £9, inferior £4 to £6 ss, prime heifers £6 to £6 10s, ordinary £4 7s Od to £5 15s, prime cows £4 10s to £6 17s 6d, ordinary £3 to £4 ss. Vealers.Prices were somewhat lower. Runners to £4, good vealers £2 2s Od to £3, medium £1 10s to £2, small 15s to £1 ss, small calves 5s to 12s 6d. Fat Pigs.—Values were lower. Choppers £2 5s to £2 10s, light baconers £2 15s to £3 ss, heavy £3 10s to £4 (average price per lb spi to 6d), light porkers £1 15s to £2, heavy £2 5s to £2 7s 6d (average price per lb Od to 7d). WATER FOR .CATTLE. With the summer comes the season of the year when the supply of water for the live stock of the farm demands the most careful attention (says a writer in the Southland Weekly Times). An adequate water supply for live stock is much more important than is generally realised, if one may judge from the usual arrangements on the majority of the farms of the Dominion. A more careful consideration of this subject would undoubtedly prove of the greatest advantage to many of our stock owners and particularly to those interested in the dairy industry. It is only when animals are seen to lose flesh, in seasons of prolonged dry weather, that it is' realised how important water really is to them, but let it not be forgotten that animals cannot thrive unless they have easy access to a plentiful supply of good drinking water. Apart from the fact that in chemical composition animals are half water, and all important as it is in making up the composition of the flesh and the frame, water is essential in the many processes associated with every tissue. Every cell constituting these tissues is dependent upon water for life and activity.

It is the only medium in which digestion can take place, and by it foods after digestion are carried info the intestinal walls in solution, and so finally reach the individual cells by way of the blood stream. In a like manner the waste products are carried by that stream to the kidneys, to in the form of urine, which is chiefly water. A small quantity of watery vapor is given out in every breath. The dung, too, is kept moist by water. For the production of milk, water is still more important. The quantity of water required a day varies considerably with the species of the animal, size, function, activity, food, and the season. Cattle generally take from eight to ten gallons of water a day. Horses from six to eight gallons. The experience that we have every summer of seeing stock lose condition and the'dairy cow ceasing her best ‘ production, should be the stimulation to direct special attention to every aspect of the provision of water for the live stock of the farm. This may often bo accomplished by clearing out drinking places, protecting them so that the water is not polluted or made unfit for use. Springs may be fenced off and made to empty into troughs, the overflow or surplus water may be finally conducted to a reservoir. There are undoubtedly many means, that with the exercise of some ingenuity coupled with observation, may be set out to provide an ample and easily accessible* supply of water to the live stock of almost every farm in the Dominion. It is sound business to make this provision ; we know that every year brings a shortage of water, and with it there is the injury to stock. So why not be prepared ? THE BLESSING OF SHADE. Not only are timber trees objects of beauty in a- landscape, but they provide shade for grazing cattle, and this is as necessary as food and water (says Farm, Fiord, and Fireside). Some districts, of courseware unsuited for timber, and in big open fields you see cattle huddled together near walls and fences trying to escape the pitiless sunshine. How different they look to cattle in another field where there are trees under which the animals can rest contented and comfortable in the cool, shade. In this matter, too, more judgment might be exercised and more thought be given to stock. We have seen cattle and horses turned out on broiling hot days in fields where there is no particle of shade when they could have been just as easily put into a ground where shade is provided by trees. If cattle are to do well they must be comfortable, and for cattle to have to endure blazing sunshine the whole day through is nothing short of .suffering. In the matter of cattle markets, too, what a pity it is that authorities do not pay more attention to this question of shade. Business takes us into one well-known cattle market that is planted with plane trees, and what a blessing they are to man and beast during hot weather. The cattle, sheep, and pigs stand in the pens in the cool shade of the overhanging trees and are not distressed. The conditions are just as pleasant for the human beings who attend the market, and you realise it when you go to another place where there is no sign of a green tree, no particle of shade, and the sun glares unmercifully on whitewashed walls and pens. It is little short of an act of cruelty to take stock into the shadeless burning markets, and yet if shade trees ill grow in one place there is no reason why they -should not in another. What should we do without trees'and'the cool, shade they provide for man and beast? A broiling hot day in a treeless district makes one realise the blessing in one case and the lack of it in the other.